Rants and raves about the mess of higher education in the United States.

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Student in Christianity Class Says There Are 2 Genders, Gets Tossed

By Professor Doom

I generally teach
mathematics. While this subject is usually considered brutally objective, in a
real sense it’s an ideology: the ultimate goal of my class is, indeed, to get
all my students to chant the same thing at the same time, like a pack of local
news journalists (and I use that word with maximum looseness).

I worry that
perhaps I’m teaching a religion (and the great mathematician Godel would say my
concerns may be valid). In ancient times, religion and mathematics were
intertwined—no real surprise, since mathematical results and calculations can
seem like magic to the uninformed. But this is the modern world, and
mathematicians no longer claim any particular god is relevant to their
understanding.

Now, “1 + 1 = 2”
can be viewed as a definition or a calculation, but either way it’s just an
abstract thing. On the other hand, if I take one apple, put it next to another
apple, I get something that looks much like “2 apples,” and my abstract
calculation lines up with reality.

Bottom line,
mathematics might be a religion, or an ideology, but the things mathematics
predicts and says line up with reality so consistently that I don’t worry much
about the possibility that I’m teaching a false ideology. I honestly believe
the concepts and beliefs I try to “impose” upon my students are valid.

I understand and
respect that faculty in other fields likewise believe they teach True
Knowledge, but there does seem to be a difference. When a student in my class
corrects me, for example, I’m willing to discuss it. Sometimes I do make an
error after all, but often enough the student’s correction is due to his
incomplete understanding of my “ideology.” So I listen to his concerns, and we try to
resolve them using the “ideology” of mathematical reason.

I’ve never
actually tossed a student from my class for disagreeing with me, which is why
the title of the following is disturbing:

Now, there’s a time
and a place for such discussion, and never in one of my classes, thankfully.
Perhaps if I’d had a student come to my class and spout Marxist ideology,
instead of mathematics, I might well toss him so I can get back to discussing
my own system of belief.

“…a Feb.
28 “Christianity 481: Self, Sin, and Salvation” lecture…”

Christianity is
something of an old religion. My knowledge of The Bible is sadly lacking, but
I’m confident there’s nothing in there about there being 32 (more?) genders,
which is all the rage nowadays. Heck, we’ve had 2 types of bathrooms (one for
each gender) for much of the modern world.So, we’re in a course on Christianity, and he’s saying something
consistent with Christian ideology. Perhaps the context was inappropriate?

I’ve seen my share
of TED talks. They vary wildly in quality, and this one is certainly not on the
high end (only a few are). I watched it so you don’t have to, and a
summary is as follows: “no information.” It’s just a personal testimonial of a
transgender person, with some opinions, presented in a “stand up comedy”
format.

Anyway, was the
student interrupting class with his fairly common interpretation of Christian
belief?

“…the professor asked the women in the class to
share their thoughts. When no women in the class said anything, Ingle spoke up,
challenging the professor on biology and the gender wage gap.”

The professor invited comment, and after
the first-class citizens had nothing to say, this male, a second class citizen,
spoke up. Did the student make his assertions strictly based upon scripture (a
legitimate enough thing to do in some classes, but questionable in others)?

He told the class that the official view of
biologists is that there are only two genders.

--he also backed his claim about the
nonexistent “wage gap.”

Now, I don’t
honestly don’t know the official view of biologists, but the student did back
up his claim, and was only responding to a request from the professor. That
said, this is heresy for many with the professor’s ideology, and so we get a
scary response:

The feminist professor booted him from class
and asked him not to come back. She referred him to the public university’s
Academic Integrity Board (AIB). Ingle needs to complete the class to graduate
at the end of the semester.

---wait…why is a feminist teaching a Christian
course?

A permanent punt
from class! Wow, I’ve caught students cheating in extraordinary ways, and admin
won’t take them out of the classroom. What happened to higher education that
academic fraud isn’t a problem, but speaking words in opposition to the
enforced ideology merits removal from a course?

Now, I don’t have
all the facts here, just what the article says, but apparently there was a
hearing to address the list of charges against the student (I won’t list them
all), and the student was cleared.

All’s well that
ends well? Maybe, but I worry here. Just the fact that the student was brought
up on charges for questioning the narrative is going to have a chilling effect
on this campus. Students which know about this case, and know the truth, are
going to be disinclined to argue when professors speak lies…it’s called
“scholarly pursuit” not “scholarly keep-your-mouth shut.”

I do love
articles with comments sections, as they allow people to come in and make
clarifications. One of the professor’s colleagues added some information:

--can it be a witch-hunt when the professor who made the charges
isn’t even charged with anything? I do wish logic wasn’t ever more constrained
to mathematics…

Wow! As one might expect, this is another feminist professor coming in
to protect one of her own. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, but I’m so, so,
tired of anyone who challenges the narrative being classified as a RACIST. Am I
being unfair in that characterization? After all, she only labeled him as a
“white nationalist” and I suppose that’s not the same thing. Whether “white
nationalist” is another phrase meaning RACIST need not be determined, as her
screed continues:

“…I suffer no lack of clarity of what this assault is really
about: silencing professors who refuse to tow the racist, misogynist, homophobic
agendas of characters like Mr. Ralph.”

So, yes, she’s pretty much calling this kid RACIST for advancing an
argument supported with facts. This really is what much of higher education is
turning into, not simply indoctrination, but forceful indoctrination where
alternative views, even ones with valid arguments, cannot be heard, only
shouted down with the name-calling I’ve heard so many times before.

At least when students tell me I’m wrong, I allow them to speak and
address their concerns. I’ve never once called one RACIST for challenging my
beliefs, and so once again I find reason to believe my ideology of mathematics
is superior.